


sense

by Anonymous



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Nort!Axel, Roleswap AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 14:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19022140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: nort!axel and saix have a conversation about xigbar.or, how nort!axel suspects that he is not the only one who's a little dead inside.





	sense

after the meeting, saix follows axel away from prying eyes and devouring ears, off to a secluded hallway where they can speak freely. axel says nothing at first, just paces back and forth like a tiger in a cage, all restless, predatory energy. saix heaves a sigh, waits for axel to get his thoughts together.

“there’s something…. off about xigbar. i don’t trust him,” axel says at last, a gravel-grumble that saix almost can’t decipher.

there’s a great many things wrong with xigbar, saix wants to say. but he doesn’t.

instead, he remembers the way axel and xigbar exchanged clever barbs during the meeting, as they are one to do.

he remembers how axel leaned forward in his seat, jaw cracked open, upper lip curled back and revealing sharpened teeth as he just glared and breathed.

(it hits him, now, that he’s seen this before. not in axel - but in a ragged alleycat in radiant garden, scenting something saix could not detect. the cat would hiss if saix got too close, claws and teeth at the ready. the memory is unsettling.)

saix licks his lips, brushes the memory away like a pesky fly. “why do you say that?”

axel’s nose crinkles, his empty golden eyes practically slits as he paces and paces and paces. “i don’t know, i just - i can’t get a read on him.”

“well, not everyone is as easy to read as dem-”

“no.”

axel’s gone rigidly still, eyes wide and head lolled to the side at an unnatural curve like a hanged man; if it wasn’t for the way his eyes burned with a dark, intent energy, saix might think him dead. (he often does.)

a beat of silence, one two three. axel rights his head, takes two long strides to close the distance between them, until saix can feel sour breath on his cheek, can smell just the faintest hint of earth.

“no,” axel barks again, and then more subdued, still and cold as stone, “no. people are very, very easy to read. nothing more than flimsy books with open, vulnerable pages.”

axel’s lips twist upwards in an expression that saix stopped calling a smile months ago. “i read them all the time.”

and then there’s only the shrill, ragged wheeze of axel’s breathing as they stare at each other, and, looking into those un-lea eyes, saix has the distinct feeling that this is a warning, a  _threat._

(he always looks at you.)

saix holds axel’s unblinking stare until axel suddenly snaps backwards, resuming his pacing like the past 30 seconds didn’t even happen, rigor mortis stiffness replaced with frustrated, fiery energy.

saix takes a shuddering breath. holds it, releases it. he tries again. “maybe because you both have pieces of xehanort in you.”

“mmm maybe,” axel says, his tone thoughtful, and saix considers it a victory. “it’s like there’s...something else. something like…”

axel cuts himself off there with a groan, flails his arms in front of him, fingers clawed. “all smoke, i can’t see through it.”

axel looks at saix now, almost petulant in his ire, as if seeking support in his intuition. saix doesn’t know what to say; he does not speak the dead language axel does, the one he became fluent in when he came back scarred, came back _different_.

“you’ll figure it out,” saix says at last, weak, flimsy words meant to placate a snarling dog rather than comfort a (former?) best friend.

axel gives another crooked grin, a opossum’s smile. “i always do.”

saix forces himself to give a half-nod as he turns, heading back down the main hallway. he can feel axel’s eyes on him long after he’s out of sight.


End file.
